Voluntary pet surrenders at the Pima Animal Care Center are on hold for two weeks as officials work to control an outbreak of two serious and potentially deadly diseases.
Distemper and strep zoo have killed four dogs and sickened another 10 or so since being discovered at the facility late last week.
Both diseases are highly contagious among dogs in shelters and can be potentially lethal if untreated. Cats are not affected, and there is no risk of spread to humans, according Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Francisco Garcia.
On-site adoptions will also be held up for a shorter period, though PACC-sponsored adoption event scheduled for the weekend will proceed with unexposed animals from other organizations.
Law enforcement and other mandated PACC functions will continue normally.
The shelter has isolated all dogs showing signs of illness from the remaining population for testing and treatment. In addition, all healthy-appearing dogs are receiving prophylactic antibiotic treatment to eradicate the infectious organisms.
All treated dogs will also undergo a 14-day period of observation and testing to ensure they are not contagious or ill and recently adopted dogs have been sent home with medication.
When faced with comparable situations, some shelters euthanize all animals to control outbreaks, though that is “not an option that we are even considering,” Garcia said.
PACC veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Wilcox estimates it will take about 14 days for the antibiotics to eradicate the illnesses in the current population and stop the spread.
Shelter manager Jose Ocaño said “at this point it looks really good” the problem will be resolved within two weeks.
Wilcox said no new cases of these diseases have occurred since the “original spike” Nov. 3.
Wilcox cited low county vaccination rates and crowded conditions at the current facility as possible causes for the outbreak. The last distemper outbreak occurred about two years ago, though she said that “with a shelter as large as ours, with such high densities and given its age, it’s not uncommon. We’ve been lucky.”
A new shelter under construction will have features that help control and prevent such outbreaks.
People who need to surrender pets in the interim can call 724-7222 for alternative resources.
